School briefly locked down during police pursuit in Henry County

A pursuit that went through several towns, and involved a crash, ended with an elementary school briefly locked down in Alpha, Illinois.

It began when a 2003 Cadillac, driven by 44-year-old Marriese Jones of Chicago, allegedly traveled 86 miles per hour in a 70 mph zone as it went by a parked sheriff’s deputy patrol car on westbound Interstate 80, east of Geneseo, just after 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 2, 2014.

The deputy followed the Cadillac west to Route 82, where Jones allegedly turned and drove the wrong way down the on ramp. The car continued southbound and the pursuit ended.

About an hour later, another Henry County deputy saw the Cadillac traveling westbound on Route 81, west of Lynn Center. Jones allegedly took off at a high rate of speed, continuing south on Route 150 south of Orion.

When Jones tried to pass an SUV at the Edwards River bridge, it hit the rear driver’s side of the SUV, police said, causing the SUV to cross the road and hit a guardrail, bounce back across Route 150 and hit the opposite guardrail before it came to rest. The SUV driver, a 27-year-old woman from Aledo, was treated for minor injuries.

Jones continued south to Alpha, where he turned west on A Street, parked the car and fled on foot, police said. Alwood Elementary School was briefly locked down as a precaution, while Henry County deputies and Alpha Police chased Jones on foot about two blocks before he was apprehended.

Police charged Jones with two counts of speeding, two counts of felony driving while suspended, driving in the wrong lane, misdemeanor fleeing to elude, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, leaving the scene of an injury accident, improper lane usage and felony aggravated fleeing to elude.